Drinking & driving

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Here is something I am uncertain about. Now, as a general rule, I don’t drive anywhere, even if I’ve had 1 drink, unless its been a couple of hours. Earlier, I had a small glass of port, a small glass of sherry, some soup, and coffee for lunch. I needed to come later to the office and though I felt slightly affected, in the sense of relaxed, I felt fine. I didn’t have any problem at all driving and I was in complete control. I’m not sure that legally speaking I would have even been close to the limit, but who knows?

Anyway, I do worry because I tend to be scrupulous by nature and I had just gone to confession and now I’m afraid that I’ve already committed a mortal sin. The catechism says that drunk driving is a mortal sin, but the question of what constitutes drunk driving is not clearly defined. Does that mean that if you’ve had 1 drink and you feel a little warmth in your tummy that you can’t drive without committing mortal sin? In essence, I had a warm tummy and felt relaxed, but was completely in control. Now, I know that some people might get really upset about this and I"m sorry to offend you, especially if you’ve lost a loved one to a drunk driver. But I hope someone can give me a reasonable and somewhat objective analysis of this. Any priests in the house? Thanks,
 
I’ve had to confess drinking and driving a few times, and the priest and I usually agree that it’s only a mortal sin if you’re over the state defined legal limit. At that point, you’re putting your life and others’ lives at risk by getting behind the wheel. It doesn’t sound to me like you’re anywhere near the legal limit.

On a related note, my priest also told me that I should consider it a mortal sin to get drunk. I thought getting drunk is only a sin if it puts you in occasion to sin, but he told me even if it doesn’t put you in occasion to sin, you are still abusing your body and altering you mind and behavior.
 
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Jabronie:
I’ve had to confess drinking and driving a few times, and the priest and I usually agree that it’s only a mortal sin if you’re over the state defined legal limit. At that point, you’re putting your life and others’ lives at risk by getting behind the wheel. It doesn’t sound to me like you’re anywhere near the legal limit.

On a related note, my priest also told me that I should consider it a mortal sin to get drunk. I thought getting drunk is only a sin if it puts you in occasion to sin, but he told me even if it doesn’t put you in occasion to sin, you are still abusing your body and altering you mind and behavior.
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Yeah, of course the question there is what constitutes drunkenness? Being a touch tipsied doesn’t qualify as drunkenness but being severely impaired does I think.

As far as driving goes, the more I think about it, the more I think that the effect on me by the drink was very slight and so I’m not too worried anymore. Still, it helps to check with other people. Thanks.
 
Nobody should drink and drive at all. Not even one drink. People who thinks one or two are okay are just deluding themselves.
 
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thistle:
Nobody should drink and drive at all. Not even one drink. People who thinks one or two are okay are just deluding themselves.
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Can you substantiate this please? How come cops don’t haul you in if you are below the limit? Are they being reckless by not? Shouldn’t you be bringing a lawsuit against your local law enforcement over this?

Scott
 
For the scrupulous OP, if you are truly concerned about the your legal impairment or lack thereof after one drink, why not invest in one of those breath-alcohol meters. They are available through places like Sharper Image & Brookstone. If you’re really concerned–you could also swear off any drinking if you know you need to drive later.
 
Scott Waddell:
Can you substantiate this please? How come cops don’t haul you in if you are below the limit? Are they being reckless by not? Shouldn’t you be bringing a lawsuit against your local law enforcement over this?

Scott
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This is what I mean by people deluding themselves. They think because they are within a legal alcohol limit their abilities are not impaired at all. In my opinion there should not be a limit set. Drinking even one drink while driving should be banned. The people who think one or two drinks are okay over time step up the number of drinks they think they are okay to drive with.
DRINKING AND DRIVING IS DANGEROUS!
 
As a recovering alcoholic, I will state point blank that BAC is not an adequate measure of impairment, regardless of the legalities. Unfortunately, it’s the best we have right now.

To illustrate, several adults gave a demonstration in a high school parking lot by driving an obstacle course. Most had predictable results: no cones knocked over while sober, some knocked over after one drink (relaxed), more after two drinks, etc. One lady, obviously a heavy drinker on a regular basis, started out poorly, but continued to improve until her BAC was well over twice the legal limit. Her body was so accustomed to alcohol that she needed to be legally drunk to function normally.

The point is, though, that even one drink impairs a normal person. A very noticable impairment was observed after two drinks even though the BAC did not exceed the legal limit. So, let your well-formed conscience be your guide.
 
Well, according to the catechism it is clearly drunkenness while driving that is a mortal sin. That being said, I’m not suggesting that people freely go about town drinking and driving. Nor was I suggesting that I plan to make a habit of it. The only thing I was trying to ascertain was whether in this specific instance, I was committing mortal sin. I really don’t think I committed a sin at all upon reflection; no more than if I had taken a little cough medicine and had gotten temporarily light headed.
 
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thistle:
This is what I mean by people deluding themselves. They think because they are within a legal alcohol limit their abilities are not impaired at all. In my opinion there should not be a limit set. Drinking even one drink while driving should be banned. The people who think one or two drinks are okay over time step up the number of drinks they think they are okay to drive with.
DRINKING AND DRIVING IS DANGEROUS!
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I’m sorry, but I don’t see how one can simply dismiss people’s prudential judgement like this, and baldly declare them delusional.

Scott
 
I would say that, as you felt “relaxed” after the drinks, you were impaired, and should not have been driving. You may not have been impaired enough for it to be obvious, or have drunk enough to be over the legal limit, but… well, read GeezerBob’s story again.

But it is probably **not **a mortal sin, since you are unclear enough about it to bring it to this forum. In other words, it lacks the full knowledge required for it to be a mortal sin.

And BAC is determined by your body weight. If you’re a strapping 6’4" of muscle, a glass of port and a sherry probably wouldn’t put you over the limit, but if you’re 4’6", 90 lbs, it would.

Another test of manual dexterity vs BAC showed that, as manual dexterity goes down, the drinker’s opinion of their dexterity didn’t. (This was a test of private pilots on flight simulators.) So you may not have been driving as well as you thought!

Are you aware that, in the US, it is not legal to operate an airplane with any detectable amount of alcohol in your system? If your results are .00001, too bad, you are in deep kimchi and may lose your license.

By the way, where in the CCC is the part about drunk driving? TIA. I really want to know.
 
To put this into perspective, someone who drives while using a cell phone is as impaired as a driver with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15.

One would have to drink 7 or 8 glasses of port at lunch to be as impaired as a driver using a cell phone.
 
Chris Jacobsen:
To put this into perspective, someone who drives while using a cell phone is as impaired as a driver with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15.

One would have to drink 7 or 8 glasses of port at lunch to be as impaired as a driver using a cell phone.
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You can’t justify drinking and driving by saying something else is more dangerous.
By the way, in many countries using a cell phone while driving is banned.
 
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